Showing posts with label Washington. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Washington. Show all posts

Monday, November 12, 2012

Pass the Dutchie, man


Dude.


Duuuuude!

Like . . . duuuuuuudddde! I mean, you know, man!

Duuuuuuuuude! Whoa!

Really, man. Duuuuuude!

Far out, man! Look what the AP is saying, man! But dude, isn't it, like, really spelled "A-P-P," man?

OH, DUDE! Whatever, man.
Marijuana-legalization votes last week in Colorado and Washington state don't just set up a state-federal showdown on drug law. They might open the door to pot tourism.

Both voter-approved measures, for the first time, make marijuana possession in small amounts OK for all adults 21 or older. That's not just the states' residents but visitors, too, so long as they buy and use the drug while in Colorado or Washington.

Of course, that's assuming the measures take effect at all. The states were still awaiting word on whether the U.S. Justice Department will sue to assert the supremacy of federal drug law, which doesn't allow recreational pot use.

So the future of marijuana tourism is hazy. But that hasn't stopped a fever of speculation, especially in Colorado, where tourism is the No. 2 industry, thanks to the Rocky Mountains and a vibrant ski industry.

The day after Colorado's measure passed by a wide margin, the headline in the Aspen Times asked, “Aspendam?” referring to Amsterdam's famous marijuana cafes.

Colorado's tourism director, Al White, tried to downplay the idea of a new boom.

“It won't be as big a deal as either side hopes or fears,” he said.

Still, many people are asking about it.

Ski resorts are “certainly watching it closely,” said Jennifer Rudolph of Colorado Ski Country USA, a trade association that represents 21 Colorado resorts.

Are there any plans for an adults-only après lounge, where skiers could get more than Irish coffee to numb their aches?

“There's a lot that remains to be seen,” Rudolph said with a chuckle. “I guess you could say we're waiting for the smoke to clear.”
LIKE, dude, you got any Doritos, man, to munch on while we're waiting on the smoke to clear, man?

Friday, October 05, 2012

What's on your mind?


Who needs the Eyewitness Action Live news team?

In this social-media age, disturbed threat-makers and hostage-takers post their own running Facebook updates on their ongoing police standoffs.

Now it's happened three times within a month. Thursday, it was a 23-year-old man updating his Facebook friends on the progress of his heavily armed freak-out, and on Sept. 21, a guy about the same age was explaining how he "cant take it no more im done bro" as he held a businessman hostage in a Pittsburgh office building.

ON SEPT. 8 in Denver, one holed-up Facebook gunman even posted pictures of himself and his alleged partner in crime during the standoff.

Of course, then there was the Utah one in June and some others last year. To put this recent phenomenon in sociological terms . . . WTF, dude?

I'm afraid to check how many folks have live tweeted their tactical staredowns with the men from SWAT.

The latest standoff, the Washington meltdown with an firepower at hand, is reputed to have a shameless hussy at its root. Of course.

And Levi Matthew Tucker (use of the middle name here is gratuitous -- if he had killed someone, it would be mandatory) apparently is a big fan of both guns and the tea party.

For what it's worth.


HAT TIP: Romenesko.

Monday, November 08, 2010

Barking up the Ducks' tree


Washington's athletic director didn't mince words -- or make an attempt at being a gracious guest -- during the Huskies' visit to Oregon last weekend.

Instead, he went on and on to the Huskies' radio crew about how the university in Eugene had become an embarrassment because of state budget cuts, and about how UW was superior in every way.
(Except, of course, on the gridiron.)

NORMALLY, I wouldn't give a duck's tail (or a Husky's hind quarter) about Pac-10 pissing matches. I don't have a dog in that fight. Then again, neither did Washington, as it turned out.)

One thing occurred to me, however. This, as reported on Sports by Brooks, is
exactly what somebody's going to be saying about my alma mater, LSU, if and when Gov. Bobby Jindal gets his budgetary way and finishes his ongoing work of destroying the state's flagship university:
Mahler to Woodward: “What do you make of this place? When you come down here, you see the new baseball field, you see the brand new turf, you see the atmosphere. And don’t know if motivation is the word but obviously this is kind of where Washington wants to be, ranked #1 in the country and have all eyes on them.”

Woodward: “Sure, it’s not really where we want to be Softy (Mahler’s nickname), because it’s an embarrassment what their academic institution is, and what’s happened to them as far as their state funding has gone. In my mind it’s a wonderful athletic facility but they’ve watched it at the expense of the university go really down.

“The athletic facility is impressive. The fans at Oregon should get down on their hands and knees at night to Phil Knight and pray to him because this is an incredible facility he’s built.“

Mahler: “Talk more about what you were just mentioning, about academics, is that backed up by some stats that just came out? Or numbers? Tell me about that.”

Woodward: “Sure, any of the rankings you look at, you watch how far they’ve (Oregon) dropped because of their state funding. And it’s a message for us too. Our state needs to get its act together because we can’t continue to progress without investment in our institution. But we’re doing extremely well and we’re very proud of that fact.

“We’re a part of the whole University of Washington. That’s who we are.”
OK, TIGERS. You have been warned. You will be embarrassed . . . that is, if anyone in Louisiana still is capable of such.

Sunday, May 16, 2010

LipDubbapalooza


When high schools meet lipdub, it's kind of like giving Junior the keys to the Plymouth. You fear the worst and pray for your car -- and, by the way, Junior -- to come back in one piece.

And with a full tank of gas. (OK, sometimes prayer is a long shot.)

Jaded old fart that you are, you are surprised when the old heap comes back not only in one piece, but topped off and detailed, too. Applying the analogy back to the world of lipdub, that's what Shorewood High School did in Washington state
(above).

And you find yourself thinking, fossil that you are,
"How did they do that?" Then Junior gives you that "This moron is the BOSS OF ME???" look, and explains the patently obvious to the Old Man.

IT GOES something like this:


AND THEN Junior's slacker friend drops by, and you're thinking, "Holy crap . . . here we go," and you discover, to your amazement, that he's been working hard on a project for a principal who's stationed in Iraq with his National Guard unit . . .


. . . AND THEN, a tribute for another one who's retiring at the end of the year:


DISORIENTED, you struggle to understand when the kids tell you about other youth just like them in Florida.

"What the f. . . ?" you start to ask them, then you remember what your wife told you about cussing in front of Junior, and how you're a bad example, and to knock it the . . . hell . . . off.

Then the kids show you this:


"WELL . . . HECKFIRE," you think. "Maybe I've been all wrong about the next generation. Maybe they're smart enough, they're good enough and -- doggone it -- I should like them."

Then the phone rings.

It's Junior's homeroom teacher.


SUDDENLY, your equilibrium restored, you feel much better. And you yell at Junior about that little scratch you just found on the rear-left quarter panel of the Plymouth.

Damn kids.